David Geffen

I probably didn’t handle things as diplomatically as I should.

I never felt I was too protective. I felt I was functioning as a dam against the river of sh*t that comes pouring down on artists, and it was a job that I took very seriously.

We all acquire damage as infants and children and we work on removing those scars all of our lives. You won’t heal everything, but what’s important is the work.

I thought I’d be a success even back in the mailroom at William Morris. It was just inconceivable to me I couldn’t win it all.

I was sleeping on a couch in my brothers apartment, and one day this guy walked over and said ‘How would you like to be in a movie?’ And I said ‘Yeah!’ I was an extra in ‘Explosive Generation’.

My life is a success – I am a happy man.

Our modern industrialism, changed to motives of public service, will provide means to remove every injustice that gives soil for prejudice.

Do not be embarrassed by your failures, learn from them and start again.

There are people who are really good managers, people who can manage a big organization, and then there are people who are very analytic or focused on strategy. Those two types don’t usually tend to be in the same person. I would put myself much more in the latter camp.

What you say in advertising is more important than how you say it.

Much of the messy advertising you see on television today is the product of committees. Committees can criticize advertisements, but they should never be allowed to create them.

We’’ve designed swimming pools that turn into ballrooms, and fitted security devices that fill a garage with gas if someone is stealing your car.

Courteous treatment will make a customer a walking advertisement.

Mass production is craftsmanship with the drudgery taken out of it.

The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves. but they can get very excited by those who do. That is why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest, the greatest and the most spectacular.

Once you have a product that you are happy with, you the need to centralize things to continue growth.

This is a perverse thing, personally, but I would rather be in the cycle where people are underestimating us. It gives us latitude to go out and make big bets that excite and amaze people.

I was never involved in arms trading. In the Russian Federation, arms trading is the prerogative of the state.

If you ever have the good fortune to create a great advertising campaign, you will soon see another agency steal it. This is irritating, but don’t let it worry you; nobody has ever built a brand by imitating somebody else’s advertising.

The five separate fingers are five independent units. Close them and the fist multiplies strength. This is organization.

I never trust an executive who tends to pass the buck. Nor would I want to deal with him as a customer or a supplier.